WD-40 faces a 100% spike in some sourcing costs due to the Iran war, as oil prices rise and higher raw material prices take between 90 and 120 days to affect its margins.
Raw material cost surges hit petroleum-based inputs
In April, household maintenance product manufacturer WD-40 reported paying more for certain petroleum-based specialty chemicals. These inputs are critical to its core lubricant and rust-inhibiting formulations, which rely on refined hydrocarbon derivatives whose pricing tracks closely with Brent crude oil.
The company confirmed that the war-driven volatility has directly impacted procurement for key chemical intermediates sourced from global suppliers dependent on Middle Eastern feedstocks or transshipment through high-risk corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz. source, these cost increases are not uniform across the supply base but have reached 100% for specific grades of solvent and propellant compounds.
P&G quantifies $1 billion annual after-tax impact
P&G flagged a $150 million near-term hit from Iran war supply disruptions. But broader implications extend further: Schulten, P&G’s Chief Supply Officer, told investors that if Brent crude oil averaged around $100 , the annual cost impact would be $1 billion after tax, versus a pre-Iran war oil price in the mid-$60s.
Schulten explained that sourcing changes driven by cost or availability were pushing P&G onto less efficient routes for getting materials, resulting in higher transportation costs, longer lead times, and elevated inventories. This cascading effect mirrors challenges faced across consumer staples sectors reliant on globally integrated chemical and packaging supply chains.
Cascading effects across food and industrial segments
Meanwhile, french-fry maker Lamb Weston is bracing for volume headwinds and higher volatility in some commodities, such as packaging and fuel. The source states that Schulten told investors the war’s impact went beyond just higher commodity costs to include increased expenses for inputs to suppliers’ production systems — including energy, catalysts, and nitrogen-based fertilizers used in agricultural inputs.
Hershey leans on cocoa sourcing resilience to blunt price shocks, while WD-40 — headquartered in San Diego, California — continues to assess exposure across its 12 manufacturing facilities spanning North America, Europe, and Asia. The company has not announced price increases or margin guidance revisions but emphasized ongoing evaluation of alternative chemistries and regionalized procurement strategies.
Geopolitical risk reshapes logistics planning
The Iran war has intensified scrutiny of single-source dependencies, particularly for specialty chemicals with limited alternative suppliers. As noted in the source, the conflict has disrupted traditional shipping lanes and triggered insurance premium hikes for vessels transiting the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, compounding cost pressures already amplified by sanctions enforcement and port congestion.
Supply chain professionals report extended negotiation cycles for long-term contracts, with lead times for key chemical orders stretching to 18 weeks — up from a historical average of 8 weeks. One procurement director at a U.S.-based industrial distributor stated:
“We’re now re-qualifying secondary suppliers in Southeast Asia and Mexico for materials previously sourced only from European refineries — it’s adding 37% to our validation timeline and requiring $2.4 million in new lab certification spend.”
Source: Supply Chain Dive
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
